


Prince Charming (The Higher Education Remix)

by marmolita



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Flirting, M/M, Mostly Pre-Canon, Multi, Remix, but not entirely, possible hinted ot4, stupid sexy noctis, the ignoct is mostly implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-06-30 20:36:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15759216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marmolita/pseuds/marmolita
Summary: "I've met with your instructor and reviewed her lesson plan," Ignis says, pushing the button on the elevator for the fourth floor.  "You'll cover everything from manners to negotiation to conflict resolution.  I expect these lessons will be ongoing until you fully take your place in court.""That'syearsfrom now," Noctis protests.  "At least tell me there's not going to be homework."Ignis just smiles at him.  The elevator doors slide open, and when they get to the door of the meeting room, he leans in and says more quietly, "If it makes you feel better about it, your instructor is young and beautiful.  Consider how diplomacy skills might be a boon to your social life, hmm?"





	Prince Charming (The Higher Education Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [introductory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/introductory/gifts).
  * Inspired by [charm school](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13392783) by [introductory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/introductory/pseuds/introductory). 



> introductory, I hope you are not at all surprised that this is the fic I chose to remix. ;D I don't think I came close to being as funny and entertaining as the original, but I think it turned out okay!
> 
> Content notes: involves late teens Noctis being sexy, though he doesn't actually have sex or anything.

"Really, Noct, you could have been a bit more diplomatic. Your indifference may have cost your father a critical vote when the council takes up the spending bill next week."

Noctis sighs as he lets Ignis chew him out. He didn't _mean_ to insult Councilwoman Stefendos, he was just bored and wanted to go home. Like he still does, because he's not there yet. Ignis keeps talking all the way up the elevator to his apartment, and it's not until he realizes Ignis has followed him all the way into his bedroom that he turns around.

"Well?" Ignis says, his eyebrows raised expectantly. Shit, he must have been asking a question.

"Well what?"

"Diplomacy lessons. Starting next week. You'll go?"

" _Diplomacy--_ Are you-- Seriously?!"

"Yes, seriously. We can't afford diplomatic incidents just because the crown prince is _bored_. And besides, it was on the schedule for next year anyway. We'll just be getting a bit of an early start."

Noctis groans. " _Fine_ , I'll take diplomacy lessons. Now can I go to sleep? Please?"

Ignis nods. "Very well. I'll enlist an instructor for you and update your schedule. Do try to be up on time for training tomorrow morning, won't you?"

"Yeah, yeah." Noctis shuts his bedroom door in Ignis's face and only feels a little bit bad about it.

***

"I've met with your instructor and reviewed her lesson plan," Ignis says, pushing the button on the elevator for the fourth floor. "You'll cover everything from manners to negotiation to conflict resolution. I expect these lessons will be ongoing until you fully take your place in court."

"That's _years_ from now," Noctis protests. "At least tell me there's not going to be homework."

Ignis just smiles at him. The elevator doors slide open, and when they get to the door of the meeting room, he leans in and says more quietly, "If it makes you feel better about it, your instructor is young and beautiful. Consider how diplomacy skills might be a boon to your social life, hmm?"

Before he can even blush, Ignis opens the door. "Lady Eristhos, allow me to introduce His Highness, Prince Noctis. Noct, this is Lady Angeline Eristhos. Her mother is the ambassador to Accordo and her father is a member of the privy council."

"And _I_ am my mother's apprentice," Lady Eristhos says, coming forward and dropping into a smooth curtsey. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness."

"Uh, likewise," Noctis stammers. Ignis wasn't wrong -- she's beautiful. Probably in her mid-twenties, and now that Ignis has told him who her parents are, he can see the resemblance. She has her father's olive skin and her mother's glossy curls, falling in dark waves around her narrow shoulders.

"I'll be back to pick you up in an hour," Ignis says with a small smile. "Do try to pay attention."

Noctis glares at him until he's out the door, then turns back to Lady Eristhos, trying not to blush. "Perhaps we should start with the etiquette of greetings," she says.

He takes a breath. "Yeah, okay."

***

Noctis practices his diplomacy skills at the next state dinner, greeting everyone by name and trying to remember one personal detail to ask about. Lady Eristhos -- _Angeline_ \-- is there, and he does his best to behave, knowing she'll be watching him.

It's actually kind of fun. He pretends he's playing a game, one of those timed quests where he has to secure the favor of at least 15 nobles before dinner is served, and he thinks he manages it just in the nick of time by complimenting Lord Ingram on his watch. The rest of the evening isn't quite as smooth -- he forgets himself and makes a face at the carrots on his plate, then checks his phone before dessert is served. But he makes up for it at the end, smiling politely, shaking hands, and waving goodnight.

"Did I pass?" he asks when Angeline stops in front of him on her way out, her parents saying their goodbyes to his father.

"I do believe you're ready to move on to the next level," she says with a smile. "You have great potential, and I have some new ideas about how we can play to your strengths to improve your influence. I'll just need to run it by your advisor before our next lesson."

"Uh, okay? I didn't realize you needed to ask him before teaching me things."

"Normally I wouldn't, but this is of a rather more sensitive nature." Lord Eristhos beckons, and Angeline smiles again. "Goodnight, Highness, I'll see you next week!"

As she leaves, Noctis is left wondering what sort of _sensitive_ topic she has to run by Ignis. It sounds intriguing, to say the least. How to threaten people, maybe? Is it going to be about gossip or backstabbing? He's been taking lessons for several months now and so far it's all been about reading body language, etiquette, and flattery. He grins; maybe it's time to spice things up a little.

***

"Noctis, please tell me why your diplomacy instructor is asking me whether you've ever had a romantic relationship before."

Noctis stares at Ignis, blinks a few times, then says eloquently, "Huh?" Ignis sets down his groceries in the kitchen, then brings a stack of paperwork to the table.

"I know I enticed you into these lessons with the promise of an attractive teacher, but she's ten years your senior. It would be not only horribly inappropriate but also quite _illegal_ for you to become involved with--"

"No!" Noctis flails, dropping the book he'd been reading for his history class. "Gods, Ignis, she's not-- I'm not-- She never-- Just no!" Angeline is gorgeous, it's true, and he'd be lying if he said he never had inappropriate thoughts about her, but she's never been anything but professional. "I have no idea why she would ask you something like that." Ignis sits on the other side of the couch and looks at him with raised eyebrows. Noctis suddenly feels very uncomfortable. ". . . What did you tell her?"

Adjusting his glasses, Ignis says, "I told her that as the crown prince of Lucis, it's not permitted for you to have romantic dalliances. I believe she had more to say to me, but the timing of her call was unfortunate and I was called away to go back to the council room before I could ask."

Noctis scratches the back of his head. "She said she needed to clear something with you before teaching it to me," he says.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. I thought it was going to be about gossiping or threatening people or something."

Ignis hums thoughtfully. "Well, I look forward to finding out what she has in store." _Me too,_ Noctis thinks as he picks up his book again.

***

"You almost gave Ignis a heart attack the other day," Noctis says as he drops his schoolbag on the table and sits down. "He thought you were, uh. Doing something inappropriate with me."

Angeline raises a perfect eyebrow. "Goodness. Well I'm glad I had a chance to speak to him again and clear things up. He did approve our next unit of study, after all, provided you're amenable."

Noctis leans forward, eager to hear what it will be, and a magazine lands on the table in front of him with a thump. "Tabloids?" he asks, eyeing the cover of _Insomnia Weekly_.

"Not precisely," she replies, flipping it open and pointing to a headline. _Oh $#! &, He's Hot!_ the headline reads, and in small print under it, _Lucis's Crown Beauty Noctis is All Grown Up_.

Noctis feels his face flush as he looks at the spread of photos of himself. There are a bunch of him as a kid, a couple of awkward photos from his preteen years, and then a series of recent ones, including some from last week's state dinner. He's never really thought too hard about his appearance beyond keeping up the skin care routine Ignis says is mandatory, but he always figured he looked okay. _Hot_ is definitely not a word he'd thought to apply to himself.

"If you feel up to it, I thought we could talk about how to leverage your appearance to reach diplomatic goals."

Noctis blinks up at her and finds her smiling, her eyes twinkling. "You mean like . . . seduction?"

Angeline laughs. "Not quite. As Mr. Scientia kindly reminded me, you're not permitted. And I'd _never_ recommend letting someone put their hands on you if you don't want it, no matter what they're offering in exchange. But sometimes people are willing to be persuaded by a pretty face, or the pleasure of a few more minutes in your presence." She leans down, close enough he can smell her perfume, and says in a throaty voice, "It can be hard to say no when you're overwhelmed by a hormonal haze."

"Yeah, okay," he says helplessly. She leans back and laughs, and he groans and puts his face in his hands as he realizes what she was doing. "For real though, okay. You won't let me go out and make a fool of myself if I turn out to suck at this, right?"

"Please, Highness, my reputation is at stake here too. Of course I wouldn't. But I think you might just surprise yourself."

***

He tries it on Prompto first, because somehow embarrassing himself in front of his friend seems preferable to embarrassing himself in front of Ignis. (He expects to never, ever try to use this on Gladio. Gladio would laugh in his face and never let him live it down.)

"You gonna eat that?" he asks, eyeing Prompto's candy bar as they finish up their lunch.

"Uh, yeah dude, get your own."

Noctis leans forward over the cafeteria table, rests his head on his hand, licks his lips, and looks up at Prompto through his lashes. "How about we share it?" he suggests smoothly.

Prompto stares at him for a second, his cheeks turning faintly pink, then rolls his eyes. "Fine," he says with a sigh, "but tomorrow I get half of whatever dessert Ignis packs you."

He feels a little guilty as he takes half of the chocolate bar, but only a little.

***

The thing Noctis finds most surprising is that it works, more often than not. Weaseling out of unpleasant duties gets a little easier, and convincing Ignis to let him order pizza again, and even dealing with annoying politicians. It's a quick way for him to get people to switch from treating him like a child to treating him like an adult, for all that he's barely 17. And if he's being honest with himself, he kind of likes the rush of having people look at him with desire. He doesn't do it all the time -- it's not usually worth the effort -- but all the same, it's a useful skill to have, and he gradually works on it when he has official appearances.

He remembers all of Angeline's lessons when he attends the annual council ball six months later, flattering the councilmembers and flirting with their teenage daughters and sons. Ignis pulls him aside later in the evening, red-faced, and says, "Really, Noct, tone it down. Your father's been approached for your hand in marriage by seven different councilmembers already this evening."

"I'm just using my diplomacy skills," he protests. "You're the one who wanted me to take lessons, remember?"

Ignis sighs. "I should never have let her teach you _this_. You're far too proficient for your own good. Do you realize the security risk involved? What if some poor soul falls in love with you and decides that if they can't have you, no one can? Gods help us if we have to start posting extra guards to deal with spurned lovers."

"Spurned lovers? Don't you think that's taking it a little--"

" _Regardless_ , please be polite and welcoming without . . ." Ignis waves a hand at Noctis vaguely, a pained expression on his face, and finishes, ". . . leveraging your sex appeal."

"I'll try," Noctis offers with a shrug, "but at this point won't that make it seem like playing favorites?"

Ignis opens his mouth, then closes it, then opens and closes it one more time. It looks so much like a fish that Noctis can't help laughing. "Oh for Gods' sakes, Noctis. Just because you're right doesn't mean you should laugh at me."

"I'm not," Noctis chokes out through his laughter, "you just-- your mouth--"

"I suppose I should be glad that your lessons have taught you enough to recognize you have to treat everyone equally to avoid causing even more problems. Go on, then, just try not to let yourself be tempted into anything you shouldn't be doing. I'm sure some of the guests here are as skilled as you are."

"I'm saving myself for marriage, Specs, it's common knowledge." He gives Ignis a wink and a rakish grin, just to watch him squirm, then makes his way back into the crowd.

***

Cindy Aurum is mysteriously immune to Noctis's charms. After a while, he gives up trying it on her, though he sure wishes he could save them some money on car repairs. But the motel clerks and weapons dealers and tipsters nearly all cave with a hint of a commanding tone, a tilt of his head, or a conveniently cocked hip.

He feels a little bad about it, sometimes, because it's almost too easy. The guys don't like it either; every time Noctis steps in to haggle a better deal for them or convince a tipster to give up important information, the three of them avoid looking him in the eye for at least an hour afterward. Nobody says anything, but that's probably just because they know they need him to do it. _That_ bothers him far more than using his looks to get a discount on curatives.

He can see it's going to happen again when he bargains them a loan of some heftier weapons in exchange for a garula tusk from the weapons dealer in Hammerhead, so he leaves them to sort out the details and heads into the caravan. It's hot, and the caravan doesn't have air conditioning, so he opens all the windows, flips on the fan, and pulls off his shirt before sprawling on the bed. He's thinking about taking a nap when the door squeaks open and Prompto wanders in.

Noctis sits up, but as soon as Prompto sees him he makes a sound that can only be described as a squeak and turns around to leave again. "Hey, wait," Noctis says. "Look, Prompto, I know you don't like it when I . . . do that, but can we talk about it maybe?"

Prompto turns back around slowly, still avoiding eye contact. "What gave you that idea? You get us great deals, bro."

"Yeah, and you guys can't seem to look at me afterward. You think I'm taking advantage of people, don't you?"

"What?!" Prompto seems genuinely surprised, and Noctis is even more confused. "No! I mean, you didn't offer that guy anything unreasonable at all."

"Then what gives?"

Prompto's face, which has been red since he walked into the room, somehow gets redder. "I-- You-- You're just so--"

"I'm what?" Noctis knows his voice is probably getting sharper than he meant it to be, but he's frustrated with this whole situation. Prompto, meanwhile, looks like his head is about to explode, probably from trying to figure out how to answer the question without calling Noctis a whore or something equally offensive.

Prompto opens his mouth like he's going to say something, seems to think better of it, and closes it again. Finally he says, "The people you're working your charm on aren't the only ones affected by it, you know? I dunno about Ignis and Gladio but I need a little time to cool off before I can look at you without thinking about-- without . . . I can't have this conversation when you don't have a shirt on, you're killing me dude."

 _Oh_ , Noctis thinks, his own face starting to heat. He's abruptly struck by a flash of memory: himself turning his flirtatious grin on Prompto back in high school, mostly as a joke, and the look on Prompto's face that had made it suddenly seem like a terrible thing to joke about. He's spent his whole life with any kind of relationship being off limits, and Prompto knows that, just like Ignis and Gladio do, but it never occurred to him that any of them might want him anyway -- until now. Do those rules even apply anymore, given that Insomnia is a pile of rubble?

Suddenly Noctis feels daring and bold, so instead of putting his shirt back on, he saunters over to Prompto and gives him his best slow, seductive smile. "I could teach you to do it," he offers, leaning in closer. "You're a good-looking guy, Prompto. I bet it could get you anything you want. Maybe even a date with a prince."

"N-- Noct, you can't be-- what are you--"

Noctis cuts him off by pressing his lips to Prompto's. It's clumsy and their noses collide, but Prompto makes a surprised little noise and then tilts his head and kisses him back fervently. He's not sure which one of them opens his mouth first, but the kiss deepens. Noctis has no basis for comparison but he's convinced Prompto has to be a great kisser because it's so good it makes his whole body feel hot.

"I thought you weren't allowed," Prompto says when they part for air.

"I'm the king now," Noctis murmurs against his lips. "I make the rules."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Prompto says, half breathless and half laughing, and then he leans back in for another kiss. As he loses himself in Prompto's embrace, Noctis wonders idly whether Ignis would approve of this use of his diplomacy skills. Maybe he'll have to try it on him tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to misswonderheart and dustofwarfare for beta!


End file.
